Stolen from /mlp/
https://kotaku.com/my-little-pony-season-eight-turns-friendship-into-schoo-1822836213
>inb4 kotaku
Every dog has its day, now read it and weep it.
"I used to work for the show’s original producers in a limited capacity during their stint at MLP. Met some really brilliant people while I was there, all working on exciting stuff. God, the things that were planned for this show. Back then, everyone was so committed to making this a high-fantasy sitcom with consistent lore and compelling interpersonal dynamics, treating this as a vanguard for a new wave of intelligent and meaningful little girls’ entertainment.
And for a while, it was working. For a solid two years, their efforts were lauded as being far greater than the sum of its parts, and so much more than a toy commercial.
Ever since my producers were shown the door by Hasbro, it’s been a long time since this show has felt like anything but. There have been brilliant episodes here and there, and even some really excellent recent story arcs that, for a hot second, felt like the show was returning to its lore-centric roots. Josh Haber in particular has been a spectacular showrunner, and every now and then I see the work of his team and marvel at the hidden potential this show still has to steal my breath."
"But the franchise has obviously, by and large, taken a “toys first, writing second” stance. They introduce new concepts every ten episodes with little regard to how it might fit into the setting, just so they can spin out a new toy. They buy into nearly every stereotypical story conceit that’s plagued little girls’ entertainments for decades. And all of the incredible, almost C.S. Lewis-esque lore and theming that my producers had planned for it has been almost completely canned.
It just makes me sad to see the team’s incredible early efforts go to waste, and for the thing that took their place to have so few aspirations for advancing the art form for such a miserably misserved audience.
And after five long years of watching everyone around me suffer at the hands of Hasbro’s piss-poor treatment of its artists and talent, it was enough to drive me away from the animation industry entirely.
This show deserved better. Little girls deserved better."
"It’s funny that you bring up the Winter Wrap-Up, because there’s an interesting story behind its conception.
A long time ago during pre-production, one of the members of Lauren’s early pitch team, Martin Ansolabehere (whose contributions to the show went almost completely uncredited), drew an incredibly evocative sketch. It’s one of those magical pieces of concept art that is drawn almost on a whim but ends up unexpectedly defining a thematic tone for the entire series.
It was a crowd of pegasi stampeding atop a bed of clouds, causing rain to fall down onto the earth ponies sitting below.
Lauren took one look at this sketch and was almost immediately inspired to decree one of the most important conceits about Equestrian lore: that ponies are the caretakers of their world. That something is eerily off about the natural order of the land, and they are some of the few creatures in existence equipped to keep everything in balance.
Many other aspects of the fiction were summarily designed around or modified to fit this idea—Celestia and Luna controlling the sun and moon (that was actually come up with very early on, but it’s made extra poignant with the introduction of this theme); the Everfree teeming with wild untamable magic, causing things like weather that acts on its own (gasp!) and fearsome animals that can take care of themselves (by Jove!); and, most pointedly, events like the Winter Wrap-Up and the Running of the Leaves, where Equestrians take part in massive community rituals to bring forth the changing of the seasons."
This concept of ponies as caretakers of nature is the greater point that these seasonal events were actually meant to illustrate, and both episodes were written almost entirely with the intent to convey these ideas to the audience (with a few morals weaved in about the importance of teamwork and healthy sportsmanlike competition, because they’re important morals brilliantly illustrated within the confines of the episode’s themes, but also because a tidy little friendship lesson at the end will keep the E/I regulators at the FCC happy).
What does it imply about their world? Is its actual nature to be truly chaotic? Does the fight start and end with ponies, or are there cosmic forces beyond Equestrian control waging a war between chaos and harmony? Did something happen prior to the start of the series that we have yet to fully comprehend, something terrible, something that nearly tore the fabric of their existence asunder?
And, perhaps, most indicatively of all: where the hell are all of the other species, and why are they represented in such low numbers?
Well, who the buck knows, really. A lot of ideas like these were tossed around in pre-production and production, and not all of them made it in because no one knew how long the show would last. But even without the lore being codified, the mystery was there, and it tantalized astute viewers who could see that there was so much between the lines that had yet to be created, so much possibility to the world that Lauren and her team envisioned.
/mlpol/ - My Little Politics
Archived thread
>cont.
But it says a helluva lot that, since the original writing team was forced out, the show has barely touched on the concepts that DID make it in. In fact, they’ve almost completely watered them down. We haven’t seen another Winter Wrap-Up since. The ponies trot into the Everfree like it’s a day trip to the damn barber. The sovereign leaders of their world can’t even hold back a blizzard if their lives depended on it. There’s a bajillion little artifacts like the Crystal Heart that dictate silly arbitrary things about the weather. And also, where the hell are the Wendigos? You remember those scary big bads from the Hearths-Warming Pageant? Nowhere to be found.
I’ve heard it being tossed around that the reason why the show is so inconsistent with itself these days is because all of the writers are on-contract freelancers. I can tell you right now that this misguided idea that being a freelancer impacts the quality of writing is bollocks.
Even when Lauren was head producer, most of the writers were on-contract. I mean, for starters, this is actually super-common in the industry; most writers work freelance, and they pick and choose their projects for seasonal production stints. This is especially true of sitcoms and other hybrid episodic-serials, which much of FIM was structured to resemble. The other reason for this is that almost all of the show’s writers at the time were hand-picked by Lauren, by the director Jayson Thiessen, or by the story editor Rob Renzetti, with some coming at the recommendation of Craig McCracken (who helped out uncredited during pre- and production, like Martin). From Hasbro’s perspective, it was the smart corporate thing to do, because they were taking a calculated risk on giving Lauren creative freedom, and they probably didn’t want to lock themselves into signing committed multi-year contracts with writers for an experimental sitcom-style episodic serial that could go belly-up at any moment.
Either way, Lauren had prepared a pitch bible that the writers generally familiarized themselves with before they could write an episode. But more importantly than that, she was an incredibly hands-on producer. She herself was integral to ensuring that they understood the characters, going over every script and discussing with every writer what worked and what didn’t. It was through this back-and-forth process that each writer became most intimately familiar with the fictional universe of FIM and the interpersonal dynamics that defined each character.
They did play it a little fast-and-loose with the lore, because a lot of it was being come up with on the spot during production of Season 1, mostly introducing concepts as they needed stories to tell. That’s why you see some early clumsiness like the train to Appleloosa being pulled by ponies rather than being steam-powered; they were still trying to decide whether Equestria was industrialized or not.
But at least they were THINKING about these problems at the time, and not just tossing them aside to come up with whatever the hell plot devices they needed to clumsily deliver their morals. Back then, the morals were weaved into the plot and lore. But it’s so much easier to create new toys of whatever cool ideas you can think of when you stop giving a shit about how consistent the lore is.
I mean, to use a gaming example, why do you think Destiny 2 has so little lore now? Way easier to write and design new expansions without it. Yeah, I just fucking related a science-fantasy first-person shooter to My Little Pony. The same shit happened on both sides, and it drives me up the wall.
It’s like a fanfiction writer who just keeps dumping new ideas into their fanfic. You see it all the time. Sure, the ideas on their own are cool, but how do they come together to serve the greater whole? That’s what’s been lost.
I think the big difference was that Lauren was resistant to Hasbro’s demands during her time there. They constantly made decrees for new things to be introduced so that they could make a toy out of it, but she would always fight back on them, and ultimately they would compromise on how to make it sensible within their universe before she committed to it. (The whole “Princesses being all-powerful sovereign leaders” is a great example. Lauren wanted them to be Queens because of the weight and authority such a title carries. Hasbro wanted Princesses because Queens are scary and evil, according to 50 years of DIsney. So Lauren simply rewrote the definition of “Princess” to make it fit her needs.)
There was less of that once she left the show. The writers they brought in to replace Lauren and Rob were incredibly talented, but they were more flexible with Hasbro. To their credit, they took whatever shits Hasbro gave them and did their best to make them shine. But as soon as Meghan McCarthy left the writing team and went on to become Director of Storytelling at Hasbro, everything became much more hands-off. There were too few single dominant voices left behind to dictate an overall direction for the series in the same hands-on manner as Lauren, too few stubborn auteurs to fight Hasbro on their demands, practically all of the freelance writers worked from home, and Hasbro swapped out executive story producers almost literally every season.
Everything that’s happened since Meghan’s outbound promotion is almost a complete mystery to me, so I couldn’t elucidate on the details. But that’s what I saw happen while I was around.
But it says a helluva lot that, since the original writing team was forced out, the show has barely touched on the concepts that DID make it in. In fact, they’ve almost completely watered them down. We haven’t seen another Winter Wrap-Up since. The ponies trot into the Everfree like it’s a day trip to the damn barber. The sovereign leaders of their world can’t even hold back a blizzard if their lives depended on it. There’s a bajillion little artifacts like the Crystal Heart that dictate silly arbitrary things about the weather. And also, where the hell are the Wendigos? You remember those scary big bads from the Hearths-Warming Pageant? Nowhere to be found.
I’ve heard it being tossed around that the reason why the show is so inconsistent with itself these days is because all of the writers are on-contract freelancers. I can tell you right now that this misguided idea that being a freelancer impacts the quality of writing is bollocks.
Even when Lauren was head producer, most of the writers were on-contract. I mean, for starters, this is actually super-common in the industry; most writers work freelance, and they pick and choose their projects for seasonal production stints. This is especially true of sitcoms and other hybrid episodic-serials, which much of FIM was structured to resemble. The other reason for this is that almost all of the show’s writers at the time were hand-picked by Lauren, by the director Jayson Thiessen, or by the story editor Rob Renzetti, with some coming at the recommendation of Craig McCracken (who helped out uncredited during pre- and production, like Martin). From Hasbro’s perspective, it was the smart corporate thing to do, because they were taking a calculated risk on giving Lauren creative freedom, and they probably didn’t want to lock themselves into signing committed multi-year contracts with writers for an experimental sitcom-style episodic serial that could go belly-up at any moment.
Either way, Lauren had prepared a pitch bible that the writers generally familiarized themselves with before they could write an episode. But more importantly than that, she was an incredibly hands-on producer. She herself was integral to ensuring that they understood the characters, going over every script and discussing with every writer what worked and what didn’t. It was through this back-and-forth process that each writer became most intimately familiar with the fictional universe of FIM and the interpersonal dynamics that defined each character.
They did play it a little fast-and-loose with the lore, because a lot of it was being come up with on the spot during production of Season 1, mostly introducing concepts as they needed stories to tell. That’s why you see some early clumsiness like the train to Appleloosa being pulled by ponies rather than being steam-powered; they were still trying to decide whether Equestria was industrialized or not.
But at least they were THINKING about these problems at the time, and not just tossing them aside to come up with whatever the hell plot devices they needed to clumsily deliver their morals. Back then, the morals were weaved into the plot and lore. But it’s so much easier to create new toys of whatever cool ideas you can think of when you stop giving a shit about how consistent the lore is.
I mean, to use a gaming example, why do you think Destiny 2 has so little lore now? Way easier to write and design new expansions without it. Yeah, I just fucking related a science-fantasy first-person shooter to My Little Pony. The same shit happened on both sides, and it drives me up the wall.
It’s like a fanfiction writer who just keeps dumping new ideas into their fanfic. You see it all the time. Sure, the ideas on their own are cool, but how do they come together to serve the greater whole? That’s what’s been lost.
I think the big difference was that Lauren was resistant to Hasbro’s demands during her time there. They constantly made decrees for new things to be introduced so that they could make a toy out of it, but she would always fight back on them, and ultimately they would compromise on how to make it sensible within their universe before she committed to it. (The whole “Princesses being all-powerful sovereign leaders” is a great example. Lauren wanted them to be Queens because of the weight and authority such a title carries. Hasbro wanted Princesses because Queens are scary and evil, according to 50 years of DIsney. So Lauren simply rewrote the definition of “Princess” to make it fit her needs.)
There was less of that once she left the show. The writers they brought in to replace Lauren and Rob were incredibly talented, but they were more flexible with Hasbro. To their credit, they took whatever shits Hasbro gave them and did their best to make them shine. But as soon as Meghan McCarthy left the writing team and went on to become Director of Storytelling at Hasbro, everything became much more hands-off. There were too few single dominant voices left behind to dictate an overall direction for the series in the same hands-on manner as Lauren, too few stubborn auteurs to fight Hasbro on their demands, practically all of the freelance writers worked from home, and Hasbro swapped out executive story producers almost literally every season.
Everything that’s happened since Meghan’s outbound promotion is almost a complete mystery to me, so I couldn’t elucidate on the details. But that’s what I saw happen while I was around.
>cont
I mean, in my honest opinion, it feels like it’s getting back on track. From what I’ve seen of it, Season 7 has been one of incredible focus, with stellar episodes that pick apart so many of the questions we’ve been asking since season 1 and finally giving them answers that, combined, weave a beautiful tapestry of lore that’s been sorely missing from the series for years. And what Josh Haber pulled off with the season finale was nothing short of a miracle in my eyes. He cobbled together every stray major plot element from almost every single season (Cutie Map, Tree of Harmony, Starswirl’s unfinished spell, even the Elements of Harmony themselves) and came up with a lore-reinforced explanation that unites all of them into a single, coherent whole.
But as wonderful as it is, it feels like too little, too late. Too much damage was done in the interstitial since Lauren’s departure. And the impending end of FIM to make way for Generation 5 in two years is simple testament to that.
Goddamn, that was long. I’ve been wanting to get this shit off my chest for years. Feels good.
I mean, in my honest opinion, it feels like it’s getting back on track. From what I’ve seen of it, Season 7 has been one of incredible focus, with stellar episodes that pick apart so many of the questions we’ve been asking since season 1 and finally giving them answers that, combined, weave a beautiful tapestry of lore that’s been sorely missing from the series for years. And what Josh Haber pulled off with the season finale was nothing short of a miracle in my eyes. He cobbled together every stray major plot element from almost every single season (Cutie Map, Tree of Harmony, Starswirl’s unfinished spell, even the Elements of Harmony themselves) and came up with a lore-reinforced explanation that unites all of them into a single, coherent whole.
But as wonderful as it is, it feels like too little, too late. Too much damage was done in the interstitial since Lauren’s departure. And the impending end of FIM to make way for Generation 5 in two years is simple testament to that.
Goddamn, that was long. I’ve been wanting to get this shit off my chest for years. Feels good.
Bring Lauren back.
>Corporations also fail when the board replaces the creators, abandon imagination, and proceed to comply with all the rules so they are run by the lawyers and accountants.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/armstrongeconomics101/regulation/bureaucracy-the-collapse-of-empires-nation-city-states-corporations/
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/armstrongeconomics101/regulation/bureaucracy-the-collapse-of-empires-nation-city-states-corporations/
So who exactly is this guy and what the hell is up with all the regurgitated mass coated in an eloquent vocabulary?
>>159822
Here, add this to your list of inspirational textwalls. Except err.. this one isn't exactly inspirational.
https://pastebin.com/YvjDUtNE
Here, add this to your list of inspirational textwalls. Except err.. this one isn't exactly inspirational.
https://pastebin.com/YvjDUtNE
>>159914
Honestly don't know if she'd be able to do as much damage. The problem with Faust would be she'd want to throw in SJW tier shit at worse. At best she'd keep Hasjew's kiking at bay. Ideally I'd have liked the best of both worlds where Faust would keep Hasjew from jewing and where Hasjew would tell Faust to not push SJW tier bullshit.
But we got this timeline and now even though Faust is out we've got the entire diversity is our strength BS. Sorta like the worse timeline possible out of this.
Honestly don't know if she'd be able to do as much damage. The problem with Faust would be she'd want to throw in SJW tier shit at worse. At best she'd keep Hasjew's kiking at bay. Ideally I'd have liked the best of both worlds where Faust would keep Hasjew from jewing and where Hasjew would tell Faust to not push SJW tier bullshit.
But we got this timeline and now even though Faust is out we've got the entire diversity is our strength BS. Sorta like the worse timeline possible out of this.
Wow, that's a lot better than I had expected from Kotaku. Shouldn't they be saying that if you take issue with someone's product then you are motivatied by hate and the problem is really your own toxic masculinity?
Oh wait, the article is shit and this is pulled from the comments. Carry on then.
http://web.archive.org/web/20180208182432/https://kotaku.com/my-little-pony-season-eight-turns-friendship-into-schoo-1822836213
https://desuarchive.org/mlp/thread/32657820/
Oh wait, the article is shit and this is pulled from the comments. Carry on then.
http://web.archive.org/web/20180208182432/https://kotaku.com/my-little-pony-season-eight-turns-friendship-into-schoo-1822836213
https://desuarchive.org/mlp/thread/32657820/
This saddens me greatly
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